Free article preview

The good, the bad and the ugly rumours

An anti-genocide agreement, fine words on development and failure on human rights and disarmament mark the world's biggest summit

As delegations from 191 governments choked New York's narrow streets, diplomats and United Nations' bureaucrats tried to craft an accord that tackled critical security and development issues and set the UN on the path to reform. The accord was meant to synthesise the conclusions of a high-level panel which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had set up in 2003 to examine threats to peace and security with a detailed report by economist Jeffrey Sachs on the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of reducing global poverty by half by 2015. The aim was a security consensus, a diplomatic trade-off mediated through the UN: rich countries would provide more aid, open markets and debt relief and poor countries would do more to counter terrorism, instability and proliferation of the deadliest weapons. For Africa, the timing was critical. It was a chance to build on the pledges made by the Group of Eight (G-8) countries at July's Gleneagles summit (AC Vol 46 Nos 10 & 14) and extract a clearer commitment from rich countries to end agricultural subsidies and widen market access in the run-up to December's World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong....

(This article contains approximately 1591 words)

end of free article preview

Current subscribers: log in now to read the complete article. Misplaced your password? Then click here for a password reminder.

Not a subscriber? Then you can read this article in full either by becoming a subscriber now, for 3, 6 or 12 months, or you can buy this individual article.

Subscribe to Africa Confidential:
Buy this article:

3-month subscription
Prices from £205.00 (+ VAT where applicable)

6-month subscription
Prices from £376.00 (+ VAT where applicable)

12-month subscription
Prices from £705.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
UK & European Union
£17.00 (+ VAT where applicable)

Rest of the world
$27.00

If you have a print subscription already, click here for a password that gives you full access to the website.
If you are logged in, but still cannot access the full text of this article, email customer services or telephone us on +44(0)1638 743633.

Africa Confidential's reporting and analysis is valued by a wide range of organisations and individuals: from corporate executives, country risk analysts, national politicians and members of the diplomatic corps, to intelligence operatives, academics, journalists and NGO personnel.

Here's what our readers say about us:

"We regard Africa Confidential as one of our best and most reliable sources of information and analysis."

Intelligence Assessment Service, Privy Council Office, Government of Canada

"You are the best reporter on Africa alive. I look forward to your Intel."

Robert Stewart, CEO, Hawk Uranium Inc., USA

"If you want the detail and you want the dirt, the little blue newsletter [Africa Confidential] that drops through your letter box is like having your own private spook who knows Africa inside out and who's also one hell of a gossip."

Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News, London, UK

"Since the demise of reporting on Africa in Western newspapers, and especially in the UK, in recent years, Africa Confidential has become ever more indispensable to anyone trying to make sense of the continent.

It provides the context one needs to understand vast changes Sudan has undergone since the signing of the peace agreement in 2005 and the explosion of conflict in Darfur.

The scope of its coverage of everything from the latest mining deals and rebel uprisings in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the political crisis in Kenya since the 2007 election is simply unparalleled."

Karl Maier, Africa & Middle East Editor, Bloomberg News

Free article preview

The good, the bad and the ugly rumours

An anti-genocide agreement, fine words on development and failure on human rights and disarmament mark the world's biggest summit

end of free article preview

articles by country